Nigeria Content Online

Fears over the
violence that followed the presidential elections led to a record low
turnout in most parts of the country during yesterday’s polls. The
gubernatorial/house of assembly elections, which formed the last in the
series of national elections that began April 9, ended in most states
on a peaceful note, but turnout was quite dismal. Although the
pervasive apathy was more notable in the northern states where youth
went on a rampage after the April 16 elections, even states where there
were no riots saw more voters staying home. The violence that
accompanied yesterday’s elections was minimal. A bomb blast in
Maiduguri, the third in the area since elections began, mercifully left
no casualties. Another exploded in Ogbe-Ijo, Delta state, injuring no
one, while police successfully defused another one in the same area.

A wary north

In Kano State, the
fear of violence saw middle-aged and elderly voters abandoning their
polling units and the youth were mainly the ones to be seen around.
Areas like Kawaji Jigirya ward, Fagge A and B Brigade, which had
recorded unusually high voter participation in the two previous
elections, saw low voter turnout for the gubernatorial elections. Kano
State governor and ANPP presidential candidate, Ibrahim Shekarau, who
voted at his Giginya ward, blamed the recent crisis.

“The low turnout
may not be totally disconnected from last week’s crisis that has
affected the turnout of women and the aged. But the security agents are
doing everything possible to ensure the peaceful conduct of the
election,” he said.

Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, who was the People’s Democratic Party governorship candidate in the state, agreed.

“We have been
receiving reports of low turnout probably because people are scared
because of last week’s violent protest,” he said.

In Adamawa,
Nasarawa and Katsina states, the story was the same. In Katsina, a
presiding officer at polling unit 13, Modoji Primary School, said that
of the unit’s 831 registered voters, only 384 were accredited and even
less came out to vote. He also said that the majority of youth corps
members who officiated the earlier polls shunned yesterday’s exercise.
The spokesperson for INEC in the state, Mohammed Musa, said turnout was
very low, “but the reason, I don’t know why”. In Lagos State, turnout
was so low in some areas that officials had to go door to door to urge
people to come out to vote.

Sore spots

In many states,
however, the elections were peaceful. Ondo state governor, Segun
Mimiko, who cast his vote with his wife, Olukemi, at unit 020 Lodosa,
said: “This shows that beyond permutation, speculations, we have a
reasonably satisfactory process.”

Still, there were a
few issues. In Oyo State, the senator representing Oyo South,
Kamorudeen Adedibu, was among 54 people arrested in the state for
various offences. Security operatives in Ondo State arrested 120 people
during the house of assembly elections there. The arrests were mostly
for disobeying the movement restriction order. However, at Akpala
polling unit, Uparama ward, hoodlums snatched a ballot box and shot
into the air. Calm was restored when Naval officers from Forward Base
recovered the box and arrested two of the miscreants.

In Nasarawa, five
people were caught with thumbprinted ballot papers — 252 of which were
for the state assembly elections while 406 ballot papers were for the
governorship election. The state’s electoral commissioner, Emmanuel
Obiko, said the suspects were arrested by his officers at about 10.30pm
and would be prosecuted soon. A corps member who served as presiding
officer in Obokun Local Council in Osun state was also arrested for
being found in possession of 50 thumbprinted ballot papers.

Violence is idiotic

A former head of state, Abdulsalami Abubakar, however condemned the recent violence.

“From what I have
seen, the turnout is less than what I saw in the previous elections,”
he said. “I believe people are very apprehensive and don’t want to be
caught up in any violence.”

Mr Abubakar who voted with his wife, Fati, along with former head of
state, Ibrahim Babangida and his family, said the violence following
the presidential election, “is the most idiotic thing to happen”.